The Heroes of Aster
by Aurea Candel
Summary: After leaving Thriller Bark, the Strawhat crew are caught in violent storm, while trying to escape they encounter a mysterious girl with the ability to manipulate water.However the journey to help her return home leads the Strawhats closer and closer to danger.
1. Encounter

**Aurea: Re-redrafted the story once again (I can never make up my mind!) **

**Some chapters (and names) have been changed completely or combined with others and the writing has been cleaned up a little, though the overall premises of the story will remain the same. Each chapter is being rewritten one at a time, and should be hopefully done by the end of the week, if not before.  
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**Kiyone Hiroyuki is now Vida Valentine! (Oh the alliteration! ~~) She is of course still a witch.**

****And last but certainly not least** A special thank you to those who have continued to read even though I hadn't updated in so long! Your persistence is what gave me the will to return, rewrite and finish! ****:)**

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><p><strong>Heroes of Aster<strong>

**Chapter 1- Encounter**

As expected, even for a water witch, sailing amidst a storm was not a good idea.

But it was too late for Vida to turn around.

Taking in a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes to shut out her surroundings. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, circling her like prey and once gentle ocean waves now started pulling Vida's sailboat aggressively, as if willing her to be swallowed into a watery grave. Vida did not think that there could ever be a storm that she couldn't overcome, but nature had a way of humbling even the bravest people. She clung onto the edge of her boat with shivering hands, ducking her head from the sting of the salt water that was increasingly mounting onto the deck.

The water was getting rougher with each passing second; Vida feared that her small boat was going to capsize. She tried to tame the water by focus her magic on the approaching waves. A stray wave crashed against the boat weakly and receded back into the ocean, leaving the boat mostly unscathed. Vida let out a sigh of relief. The waves had finally started to calm a little. Unfurling the sail she decided the best course of action was to head east, into the eye of the storm. However, before she could reach the centre of the storm, sparks of lightening flared in the sky.

Vida fell to her knees shaking.

The sky flashed again. Unable to move or react, Vida barely registered the incoming wave or voice shouting behind her as her boat capsized into the ocean.

Vida sank lower into the cold, dark depths of the water. She could feel her lungs being crushed by the pressure, her throat burning for air. As her vision blurred, a hand appeared before her. Whether it a hallucination or not, she wasn't too sure, but she reached for it anyway.

It pulled her out of the water roughly. Vida flailed about helplessly in the air as a young man hauled her to the ship at a frightening speed. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for a hard landing but instead she found herself in a pair of strong arms. Vida opened her eyes to see a green haired man staring down at her.

"You alright?" he asked, but didn't wait for a response before letting her go and pushing her out of the way. He ran towards one of the loose ropes attached to the sails, "go to the kitchen while we deal with this storm."

He quickly pointed at a door above the stairs before working on the task at hand.

Vida made her way across the deck as fast as she could, slipping a few times on the wet grass, before making it to the stairs. She had reached the kitchen, shut the door and sank to the ground. The rush of fear had finally left, leaving only numbness and fatigue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The young man with the straw hat stared at his silent guest who sat half hidden by the blankets leaving only her dark brown eyes and a few strands of wavy her black hair visible. The reindeer had found her asleep on their kitchen table, rushed her to the infirmary and wrapped her in a suffocating amount of blankets.

"So who are you?" the young man asked with innocent curiosity. Vida shuffled back slightly as he drew closer, hovering very close to her face clearly unaware of her growing discomfort.

"My name is Vida. Vida Valentine" she said quietly. "Thank you for saving me…"

"Oh it's alright!" he replied happily. "Anyway, I'm Luffy."

Luffy pointed at himself before introducing the rest of his friends who in turn either smiled or nodded at her.

"Vida-chan is it? It's a pleasure to meet you" Sanji appeared in front of her suddenly, kneeling down, delicately holding her hand in with one hand while shamelessly pushing Luffy away with the other. "Now there's no need to be scared of us, we would never harm a beautiful flower like you."

"Sanji-san I think you're scaring her." Brooke stood over Sanji, his skeletal fingers resting lightly over his blazer. "But then again I'm the scariest one here! Yohoho skull joke!" he laughed manically before adding 'may I see your panties', which earned him, as well as Sanji, a smack each from an infuriated Nami, whose patience had run thin. Once Chopper had discharged his patient Nami chased them out of the room. With the exception of Robin and Nami the rest of the crew cleared out of the room to have dinner. The two ladies brought a few articles of their clothing for Vida to choose from before she could joined them for dinner, as her cloak and dress lay drying on the chairs.

"I should be charging you for these." Nami joked, but she noticed that her guest seemed too withdrawn to laugh. She exchanged a discomfited look with Robin. "So… Vida, would you mind telling us why you're sailing alone?"

Vida fidgeted slightly but answered, "I was- I'm going back home… but I didn't think I'd get caught in a storm like this. I owe you guys my life."

"Sail home in a boat like that? That's crazy!" Nami exclaimed. "This is the grand line! There's no way a rowing boat like that one could sail between islands!"

"I know. Now I can see that it wasn't such a good idea." Vida replied, somewhat embarrassed about being reprimanded by strangers.

"But, wait a minute. There are no islands within at least a week of this place. Where are you even going?"

"I'm from a country called Aster."

"Aster?" said Nami.

"I've heard of it." Robin intervened in the conversation. "It's quite a distance from here however, certainly not somewhere you can travel to with such light equipment." In Robin's hand was Vida's dress. It was a plain medium length black dress with no distinct markings other than an emblem on the breast, a gold star hanging on a crescent moon.

"Hey, isn't that a uniform? You go to school?" Nami asked, taking the dress from Robin for closer inspection. "How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen." Vida replied, but didn't comment on her uniform. Robin studied the dress a minute longer.

"The insignia looks familiar…" said Robin "Are you by any chance a student at _that_ Academy?"

Vida's eyes widened in surprise, Robin was much more knowledgeable on her country than she appeared. "Y-yes, I am. How did you know?"

"I've heard stories…" replied Robin. " A legend, they say that the priestess Erika _Valentine_ left behind a very valuable treasure before her passing." Vida froze momentarily, but Robin continued. "The Grimoire of Ages, I believe. Though, of course, they are only rumours… "

Although Robin had voiced her uncertainty Vida could feel that she was confident in her words. She knew much, much more than a foreigner should. Robin watched her expectantly, as if she was waiting for confirmation of her story.

Vida took in a deep breath to calm herself, she mentally berated herself for her naivety in blindly revealing her name to people she'd just met.

However before they could press on the subject Chopper appeared at the doorway, calling them up for dinner. Vida smiled at him thankfully and quickly followed him and Nami out of the room. Nonetheless before Vida left she noticed Robin's eyes were still set on her and despite her smile she was aware that their conversation wasn't over.

**To be Continued...**


	2. Thoughts

**Heroes of Aster**

**Chapter 2-Thoughts **

A week had passed since the Strawhat crew had rescued Vida. Despite her uneasy first impressions, after spending a week with them, Vida had slowly begun to open up. The only crew members she hadn't really spent any time with yet were Robin and Zoro. The former she had been carefully avoiding, making sure that she was never alone with her, while the latter was usually either sleeping or training, which left little room for communication. After several interactions she soon found her initial mistrusting of the pirates to be somewhat unwarranted, after all they had rescued her, provided her with food and shelter, treated her in a friendly manner, gave her pretty much unrestricted access around their ship and even offered to take her home.

After another full day of relaxing, Vida had another eventful dinner time. The captain, Luffy had stolen a piece of everyone's food, including hers, which led to another fight which ended with him being pounded by a half a dozen fists. Once dinner had finished everyone left do their own activities, leaving Vida in the kitchen alone with Sanji.

"Vida-chan…" he said with a gentle smile on his face, "it's very nice of you to offer to help with the dishes but, really its fine, I am more than happy to do this myself"

Vida smiled back meekly. "No, I offered because I wanted to help. Besides I can't laze around all day."

She had finally started to feel more comfortable around Sanji who, after some strong persuasion from Nami, had toned down his flirting.

"Ah yeah, well that's true I guess…" he said hesitantly. He gave her a quick side look, which didn't go unnoticed, but didn't say anything anymore. Once they had finished cleaning, Sanji brewed some herbal tea and sat across the table from Vida. He made full eye contact with her for a moment. Vida braced herself for another lovey-dovey serenade, but he instead he just took a long draw on his cigarette.

"So Vida…" he started nervously, unsure on how he could go about asking her without appearing to be too intrusive."Why are you travelling at sea?"

Vida pulled her head back slightly in surprise, she was caught off guard. But her hesitation had not escaped Sanji's attention.

"It's just that you seem a bit too young to be travelling alone…are you running away from something or_ someone_?" he asked, eyes laced with worry.

"No…I didn't run away…" she said, carefully planning out her words to make her response as vague as possible, "…I'm just- looking for something"

"Looking for something?" he asked. She nodded but was still avoiding his eye contact. He put down his tea and smiled, but didn't pursue the subject any further. They passed the rest of the time in silence until Sanji suggested that it was time to go to sleep; "those idiots want breakfast before the sun's even out."

"Hey, Sanji-san?" Vida called as they left the kitchen. "Do you think it's ok if I stay out here tonight?"

After the sporadic weather they had experienced during the week, the climate had finally calmed down and the ship was being cooled by a pleasant night breeze rather than a chilling wind.

"Of course you can, it's just that…" he narrowed his eyes in the direction of the crow's nest. "…that idiot Marimo is on watch tonight."

Vida chuckled at his concern as he and Zoro always seemed to be at odds. "Don't worry. I'm planning to stay down here, so it should be ok." After a bit of coaxing, Sanji finally relented and warned her not to 'catch' any stupidity from him. "Erm, Sanji-san…"

"Hmm?"

"…thank you"

He smiled awkwardly in response and bid her goodnight before disappearing down the hatchet.

Sheltered by the long vines of Nami's tangerine grove Vida bathed under the soft light of the moon in deep thought. The fresh citrus smell and the gentle wind lulled her into a dream-like trance. On the night of the full moon, surrounded ocean water, Vida's power was at its highest. Right now, if she wanted to she could jump off the ship and ride a wave back to her island, or at least somewhere not too far.

She sighed. That would be a rude thing to do considering that she had promised her saviors a buffet in return for their help; a buffet and a tour of the capital city , as she had told them, was a place known for its lively culture and adventurous surroundings. There were as many rivers and valleys as there were the waterfalls and dark hidden were legends, some like the ones Robin seemed to know, about treasures and valuables lost or hidden in the forests, something which brought many adventurers to the island.

As the night breeze lifted Vida leaned back against the trees. Just as she was about to fall asleep a rough sound woke her.

"What are you doing out here?" A deep voice called from behind. Vida flinched as a tall figure half hidden by the shadow of Nami's trees approached her.

"…Zoro-san?" she asked, though she tried to hide it, her voice shock a little. Wordlessly, he moved closer and sat against a tree a meter away from her. They sat in silence for so long that Vida thought he had fallen asleep.

"You still haven't answered my question" Though his eyes were closed his voice was crystal clear. He hadn't fallen asleep, he was waiting. "What are you doing out here?" he repeated.

Even though Zoro had been the one who had saved her from doing a face-plant against the deck the night they met, Vida had yet to thank him the way she had thanked Luffy. There was an unapproachable quality about him that made her feel nervous when he was around.

"Nothing really…" replied Vida "…I just wanted to enjoy the quiet. That's all."

Zoro smirked under his breath. "Already bored with that perverted cook, eh. Not that I blame you."

"No, that's not it. He's been very kind to me, you all have."

Zoro dismissed it as the crew being the crew and advise her not to worry about it too much. Surprisingly, he was much more pleasant to talk to in person than Vida had previously thought, judging by his rather strained interactions with Nami and Sanji.

Suddenly a vision flashed in Vida's head.

_A large bear-like person was approaching. Coming closer._

_Bright light, blinding, _

_Anger. Pain. Fight._

_Cold, so cold._

_ Nothing…_

The vision came in small fragments, so she couldn't make sense of them completely but she knew it was from one of Zoro's memories. It wasn't an unusual occurrence for Vida. The closer her powers were to their peak the more often it would happen. Occasionally she would see fragments of past memories of other people or she would see visions of their future. In her land, they would call her power scurrying.

Vida was shaking profusely. The vision ended.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?" asked Zoro.

"F-fine. I'm fine. Just a little… cold." said Vida. She tried to avoid the question like she had with Sanji, but she was aware that Zoro wasn't as lenient as Sanji.

Zoro huffed loudly. Vida briefly wondered whether he believed her or not, but when she turned to face at him, he was already headed down to the kitchen.

"Are you planning to stay here all night?" He asked from the bottom of the stairs. Vida nodded blankly. A few minutes later Zoro returned carrying a blanket and a flask of boiled tea that Sanji had brewed earlier.

"Here, don't get sick or you'll have Chopper to deal with" he said coolly before walking off again.

"Zoro-san?" Vida called quietly. He stopped midway down the stairs but didn't turn around. Vida suddenly lost her nerve.

"Nevermind, good night."


	3. Approach

**Heroes of Aster**

****Chapter 3- **Approach**

It was a peaceful morning on the Thousand sun was bright so it was decided that breakfast should be served on the deck. Everyone had gathered around the wooden table on the grassy deck when Zoro's voice broadcasted loudly through the microphone up in the crow's nest. "Oi! Heads up you guys, there's a ship coming!"

The incoming ship was a large brigantine, about the same size as Sunny, though it didn't have a pirate flag only plain white sails and one blue flag. There was a loud thud as Zoro landed on the deck.

"Think it's an enemy?" he said, hands hovering above his swords expectantly. Nami stood at the helm of the Sunny with Franky, studying the other ship through a pair of binoculars.

"I don't know…" she said "I mean, it doesn't have a pirate flag and they don't look like marines. But they are certainly heading this way."

Nami moved aside when Luffy came scampering up the stairs. He pulled the binoculars out of her hand to get a closer view.

"Maybe they want directions" he suggested. "Their navigator must be like Zoro."

Nami yanked the binoculars back and looked again. "Let's hope so"

The rest of the crew quickly left the breakfast table to occupy their designated positions in case of a fight. Vida, however, hid herself in the corner quietly. She recognized the ship. It was from Aster. Asterian ships had plain flags, and depending on the colour, it could be a merchant's ship, a recon ship or a battalion.

This ship was certainly a battalion ship.

They served as the island's main defenses against sea-faring enemies, particularly pirates, but they were usually found sailing around the borders of the island, not far out at sea, like this one. Vida tried to sneak back inside the ship without being noticed by the crew or the incoming vessel; she didn't want them to ask questions that would make her say unnecessary things. Inwardly she hoped that the ship's passing was a coincidence and that they were going to leave soon.

But it was still coming towards them.

"What's wrong Vida-san?" Robin was standing in the kitchen, putting away the breakfast plates.

Vida turned to face at her, keeping her features as steady as possible. "Nothing, it's just a ship approaching."

"We pass ships all the time on the grandline." Robin said, "Is there something wrong with this particular one?"

"No, well it's just that Zoro-san and Nami-san are just suspicious of it, that's all" Vida said warily, looking back to the ship that was still fast approaching the Sunny.

"Oh I see, is that why you came inside?" Robin gaze moved from Vida to the ship then back again. Robin moved closer and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder but Vida brushed it off reluctantly by moving back a step. Robin took her actions in stride.

"Do you know these people?" she asked.

Vida wanted to deny it, but she had a feeling that Robin had already figured out the answer. But the awkward moment between them ended quickly when they heard the sound of unfamiliar voices.

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><p>"Oh, so you're the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro eh?" A menacing voice quizzed sarcastically, "Nice to meet ya."<p>

Zoro unsheathed his sword silently. A young man with scruffy shoulder length hair that blew wildly in the wind jumped off the battalion pulling his own sword from the red sash around his hips. Both stepped forward threateningly.

"-and you are?" Zoro asked offhandedly.

A glint of white was visible as the man exposed teeth in a sinister smile, like a lion baring its fangs. They quickly exchanged taunts that rest of the crew couldn't hear before attacking one another. Zoro dived beneath the man, slicing upwards with his white hilted sword, trying to catch him by the throat. At the same time the man swung his blade downwards like an arc, clashing with Zoro's blade with a deafening screech. They held each other at a stalemate until Zoro began to unsheathe a second sword.

Now the match was in his favour.

The man was slowly losing his footing against Zoro. The rest of the crew stood back behind the rails to watch the match; knowing better than to disturb two swordsmen in a fight.

"Hey wait, stop! What are you doing-!" she yelled. "Stop!"

Running down the stairs onto the deck Vida nearly tripped over her own feet when she recognized the man's movements. Shigen.

Shigen suddenly stopped his blade mid-attack, as did Zoro. Both stared in Vida's direction, simultaneously lowering their swords with a shocked expression, saying:"Vida? You know this guy?"

"Yes-yeah-I mean, stop fighting!" Vida was at a loss for words. "w-what are you even doing here…"

Everyone stop dead in their tracks, dumbfounded by the change of events. When the abrupt shock of their meeting wore off Shigen fell back into his usual grin.

"Well! If it isn't Vida-chan!" he sneered, sheathing his sword while strolling towards her. "Didn't expect to find you here… What're you doing, playin' pirates?"

His smile swiftly faded when he noticed that Vida wasn't listening. She had her attention elsewhere. It was subtle but Vida noticed slight limp in his steps. Shigen appeared behind her suddenly, holding a cold steel blade against her neck.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you. What's your problem?"

In the background Vida could hear the crew voice their complaints but before they could move to attack she had her hand on the blade of Shigen's sword. Blood dripped between her fingers where she held the blade, yet her grip remained firm.

"Vida!"

Shigen sniggered and lowered his blade. "Now, calm down you criminals, she's alright." He looked down at Vida, placed his empty hand on her head and shook her hair messily. "Don't be so angry, sweetheart, I'm only jokin'"

Vida didn't answer.

Like the night before with Zoro, Vida could feel a vague pain emanating from Shigen. She grabbed his arm in an iron grip and pulled up his shirt faster than he could react. She gasped in horror. Concealed under his shirt was a nasty gash. It was turning a strange shade of purple.

A curse.

**To be Continued...**


	4. Questions

**Heroes of Aster**

**Chapter 4- Questions **

Shigen slapped her hand way and pulled down his t-shirt, irritated. "Hey don't go touchin' people freely like that, its sexual harassment you know."

"Who did this to you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just mind your own business. It ain't got nothing to do with you, I can handle myself, got it?"

Vida narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She had known Shigen for many years and no one had ever been able to damage him this badly. Nonetheless, she knew that arguing would prove futile so instead she decided to turn her attention to the injury itself rather than its source.

"Ok, but this wound is dangerous. At least let me have a look at it. "

Despite Shigen's hostile attitude, Vida's insistence on taking him to the infirmary did not meet too much resistance. Sitting on the white sheets of Chopper's examination bed, sweating slightly, Shigen glanced around the room, his eyebrows knit in a scowl.

He met Luffy's blank gaze with a deathly glare. Vida sat uncomfortably in between them hoping that they wouldn't start fighting. The rest of the crew, with the exception of Luffy and Chopper, had scattered around the ship, though they all remained close enough to intervene in case something were to happen.

Chopper suddenly burst back into the room carrying stacks of needles and test tubes.

"I'm going to need to take some samples of blood, if y-you d-don't mind" the doctor said nervously. He held Shigen's hand in one hoof and prepared the syringe, but had it knocked onto the floor before he take the test.

"Hey! What are you doing, Chopper-san is trying to help you! " yelled Vida.

"What? You should know meds won't work" Shigen said abruptly.

"Have you seen a doctor already?" Chopper asked timidly as he cleaned up the glass on the floor.

"No, but I already know that it ain't that kinda of injury, _right_ Vida?" he retorted as he gestured to Vida.

She stepped forward quickly, pushed him back onto the bed then turned to Luffy and Chopper with a small guilt-ridden smile. "I know this will- seem strange, but I will explain everything later, ok."

Though they both nodded, the vacant expression on their faces clearly showed that they had no idea of what she talking about. Vida retrieved a cup of water she from the sink and placed in his hand.

"Hold still, Shigen." Vida murmured her face suddenly serious. She started waving her hand in a circular motion above the water, chanting in what sounded like a different language. Luffy and Chopper's eyes opened wide as they watched in awe as the water enfolded itself around Vida's hand.

Shigen flinched as Vida placed her cold hand on his chest. The water shimmered as it made contact with the purple wound. For a few seconds the purple wound started to glisten as well, the colours mixed together like water and oil until the purple mark disappeared into the water.

A few moments later Vida pulled her hand away, sweeping it over her forehead where beads of sweat had begun to form.

"Now you just need to rest for a bit"

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><p>"Oi, Marimo go get the lovely Vida-chan and that other idiot. It's dinner time" Sanji said gruffly, unhappy that he couldn't himself because the human eating machine called Luffy had been eyeing the stove indiscreetly, barely holding back his drool.<p>

Several hours had already passed since Luffy and Chopper emerged from the infirmary, spilling some non-sense about Vida being a witch and healing that uninvited guest, though she and her friend hadn't come out since.

Zoro rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, angry at being ordered around by the stupid love cook who had threatened to substitute his ale for water. As he made his way towards the infirmary, a light pitched voice made him stop in his tracks.

_"But I don't understand. Why would he attack you?" _

It was Vida. From the tone of her voice, Zoro couldn't tell if she was worried or angry, but he could tell that she certainly wasn't happy.

_"I don't know! It's not like he's gonna tell me!" _

Shigen's voice had a hostile tone; Zoro wondered if they had been arguing during the hours they were together.

_"Anyways you should be worried about yourself, 'cause the one he's after is __you!__" _

There was silence on the other side of the door. Taking advantage of the opportunity Zoro barged in pissed off at Sanji for sending him down and at himself for eavesdropping.

Inside, Shigen was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, clearly not as surprised by Zoro's sudden appearance as Vida was. Judging by Shigen's indifferent reaction, Zoro wondered if the man had known that he was standing behind the door.

"Oi, it's time for dinner" Zoro said, exchanging glares with Shigen, who shrugged and marched towards the door.

"Hey, that means you too." Zoro said when he realised that Vida wasn't following. She was sitting on the bed with eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

Vida quickly pulled herself together and confronted Zoro's penetrating gaze with a gentle but guarded expression.

The wordless exchange ended abruptly when a noisy clatter of dishes reminded them of the dinner they were both missing. Quickly losing his patience, Zoro marched out of the door. His dinner which, given enough time, would surely get eaten by Luffy, was on the line. They walked back to the kitchen together, side by side in awkward silence.

_"He's after you"_

A brief brush of their hands revealed to Vida that Zoro had indeed heard their conversation, or at least part of it, and although he wasn't going to admit it, Zoro was curious to find out exactly what was going on.

"I'll tell you, if you want." She said quietly.

Zoro stopped dead in his tracks.

Vida smiled inwardly at his strange reaction.

Though she wouldn't reveal everything, now she that knew he had heard their conversation she would have to explain her circumstances eventually.

Also Vida was somewhat touched by Zoro's mild concern of her safety and hoped that the tension that had built up between them since Shigen's appearance would lessen if at least one of the crew members knew the truth.


End file.
